VENUS IN FURby David IvesDir: Joseph W. Ritsch1st Reh: 9/2/14. Runs: 10/1 – 10/19When a young actress arrives several hours late to her audition for a play based on a nineteenth-century erotic novel, the playwright-director is less than impressed. But, the actress’s masterful performance flips the script on the demanding creator’s expectations and turns the session into an electrifying battle of the sexes. Hailed as “seriously smart and very funny” by The New York Times, the award-winning Venus in Fur is a laugh-out-loud game of cat and mouse that blurs the lines of fantasy and reality.

THOMASMale, 30-something. A hot up & coming writer-director with a great respect for art and literature. Intellectual and entitled, he expects others to live up to the high standards he has set for himself and his work. He handsome, tortured and virile — and is easily brought into the world of his play by his sexual drive. Willing to grovel and worship the character’s idea of femininity, and is both excited and terrified of it at the same time. Must have the acting chops to handle the character in the play he is directing (a 19th century Austrian aristocrat obsessed with his maid).

VANDAFemale, mid-20s. An actress. Seemingly ditzy and flighty, but she is actually fiercely intelligent in an instinctive way. A manipulator who stunningly transforms in and out of her roles of “desperate actor trying to get the job” and worshipped goddess. She is highly charismatic and sexual. Eventually she takes on the dominant position of the character she is auditioning for. She is funny, sexy and scary all at the same time. Able to switch from quirky girl to seductive woman in the blink of an eye.

Since the death of his partner, a morbidly obese man confines himself to his small apartment on the outskirts of Mormon Country, eating himself into oblivion. Desperate to reconnect with his long-estranged daughter, he reaches out to her only to find a viciously sharp-tongu3ed and wildly unhappy teen. Championed by the Associated Press as “Compelling, funny, and unexpectedly impactful,” The Whale tells the story of a man’s last chance at redemption, and of finding beauty in the most unexpected places.

CHARLIEMale, late 30s–40s. Morbidly obese man (somewhere around 650 lbs), dying of congestive heart failure throughout the play. He’s been wasting away for years, ever since giving up on himself since the death of his partner. But however awful his life has become, he has put all of his hopes and optimism on his daughter, whom he hasn’t seen in 17 years. Very insightful, intelligent, well-educated man who is sensitive, gentle, and thoughtful. Actors of all physical types will be considered.

ELDER THOMASMale, 19. A Mormon missionary who happens upon Charlie just as he has his first cardiac episode. A somewhat naïve, innocent young man who just wants to see Mormonism help one person before he ends his mission. He makes a big effort to be a good Mormon boy, but underneath it all he’s a normal disaffected, pot-smoking Midwestern teenager.

LIZFemale, late 30s–40s. Charlie’s best friend—a nurse who would like to think of herself as very hardened, but she’s not, masking a huge amount of emotional depth, and constantly trying to shove her feelings down into herself. Brash, stern, and loud, but pretty sensitive inside.

MARYFemale, late 30s–40s. Ellie’s mother and Charlie’s ex-wife, who has also not seen Charlie in 17 years. Hardened alcoholic who has been there, done that. Has made a lot of bad choices, but feels that she has done the best she can given the cards she was dealt.

ELLIEFemale, 17. Charlie’s daughter whom he hasn’t seen since she was a baby. A deeply intelligent, deeply cynical teenager who feels—probably accurately—that she is always the smartest person in the world. Very manipulative and shrewd, has convinced herself that she doesn’t care about her ailing father. Never valley-girl or sarcastic and eye-rolling, doesn’t say things to be mean, she says them because they are true.

When four New Englanders enrolled in a community center drama class begin to experiment with seemingly harmless theatre games, hearts are quietly torn apart, and tiny wars of epic proportions are waged and won. Love triangles, family troubles, and personal triumphs abound in Baker’s critically acclaimed play hailed by the New York Times as “absorbing, unblinking, and sharply funny.”

MARTYFemale, 50-55. The kindest possible teacher, a bohemian dressed in vintage Earth-mother outfits, originally from New Jersey, never had children, interested in nontraditional healing and would like one day to move to the Southwest. Marty is equal parts down-to-earth and touchy-feely-new-age, with just a hint of frustrated instructor. Part care-worn mother, part insecure wife, part frustrated performer, Marty’s movements, facial expressions, and understanding of her students inform every moment on stage.

JAMESMale, 50–60. Marty’s husband, and “one of those guys, those guys that get all the women.” James broods depressively over his estranged daughter, teaches at the college, and his marriage to Marty is not as idyllic as it initially appears. James is the kind of middle-aged man who wears socks with sandals, as he tries gamely to join in theatre games he doesn’t quite understand. James is perhaps the more obviously complicated person on stage. From winning husband in the opening scenes, the cool, calm, breezy James, through the rest of the show, begins to harden, crumble, and ultimately transform into a tragic figure, illustrated through the eyes of others and the lives of the other characters.

THERESAFemale, 35-45. Voluptuous, conflicted, flirtatious, warm and buoyant, and a former actress who has just moved to this small Vermont town, fleeing New York and a toxic relationship. Theresa’s vulnerability is touching, eliciting heartfelt responses and laughs from the audience as she flings herself between Schultz and James as fleeting romances within the six weeks she’s in class. Through Theresa’s uncertainty and anger over past hurts, we see how the acting exercises do, indeed, break down barriers.

SCHULTZMale, 40-50. Recently divorced, puppy-dog sweet, and painfully needy, guys like Schultz are going to get punished for falling for women like Theresa. He exudes loneliness, lifelong hurt and resentment toward those men who have all the luck with women. Schulz is an endearing and slightly bumbling, and a would-be artistic furniture maker. He is recently on his own after a painful divorce, searching for something more not only in his activities, but in another woman.

LAURENFemale, 15-19. Sulky yet perceptive, who wants to work in theater when she grows up. Or maybe go to veterinary school. Part of the time, Lauren seems to disappear inside her hoodie. The sharply observing intelligence of Lauren, youngest of the group, a socially remedial high school student, she's the only one brave enough to ask, "Are we going to be doing any real acting?" Remarkably, even though her appearance demands distance from the outside world, Lauren manages to become the underpinning conscience of the group…the class’s critic, the one holding others accountable. She’s the awkward, guileless youth, cutting through the sidestepping and politeness of her four adult classmates and producing some of the funniest and most revealing moments of the show.

When a former black revolutionary and political prisoner decides to reunite with his daughter, he discovers that fatherhood migh be the most challenging revolution of all. The Huffington Post names Morriseau as a “direct heir to the magical wordsmiths names Lorraine Hansberry, Tennessee Williams, and August Wilson” for her vibrant exploration of the point where the personal and political collide.

NINABlack woman, late 20s. Hard, quiet power, deeply guarded, and nonetheless brilliant. Has a lifetime of walls up and will fight you before letting you down. Were she an animal, she’d be a dangerous panther. A robber and drug dealer, but in another life could lead a righteous revolution.

KENYATTABlack man, 50s. Strong, quiet power, also deeply guarded. Almost a duplicate of Nina, except he has lost the hardness and is now navigating a softer version of himself. Riddled with guilt and desperate to breal through Nina’s walls…and his own. A former political prisoner and Black revolutionary. Nina’s estranged father.

DAMONBlack or Latino man, 30s. Broad, street smart, intelligent, and a drug dealer and robber. Has lost his hardness and is on the brink of retiring from the game. Nina’s partner-in-crime and boyfriend. Not a stereotype. A true, genuine soon-to-be o-g. In another life he could have been